B1A4 (Korean: 비원에이포) is a five member South Korean boy band founded by WM Entertainment in 2011. The band consists of Jinyoung (leader), Baro (Sunwoo), Sandeul (Junghwan), CNU (Shin Dongwoo),and Gongchan (Gong Chansik, maknae/youngest). They were introduced in a webtoon[1] and mix pop with rock for their debut album[citation needed]. Their group name, B1A4, has been explained as being due to one member having B blood type, and the other four having A blood type. It also stands for “Be The One, All For One”.[2][3] B1A4 have been dubbed “countryside-dols” by Korean media, because all the members originate from the Korean countryside.[4] Jinyoung and Shinwoo are from Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do; Sandeul is from Busan, Baro is from Kwangju, Jeollanam-do; Gongchan is from Suncheon, Jeollanam-do.

History

2011: Debut ‘O.K’

B1A4 debuted on April 21, 2011 with their debut track ‘O.K’ off of their album ‘Let’s Fly’ and released a music video. They were first introduced via webtoons before their actual pictures were released.[1] Their debut album ‘Let’s Fly’ includes a song written and composed by the leader Jinyoung.[5] They made their live debut on April 23, 2011 on MBC’s Music Core.[6] Over the week of May 1st, 2011, they were a guest on Starry Night radio.[6]

On June 22, 2011, the first episode of MTV’s Match Up! was aired. It features Block B and B1A4. The first episode revealed B1A4’s MV for their follow-up promotions “Only Learned the Bad Things.” The show will allow both groups to show off their musical talents and unseen charms through weekly missions and behind-the-scenes footage of their daily lives as newcomers to the K-Pop scene. The program will have eight episodes.

In just 10 days after the Official release of their New MV on their Official Youtube Channel, it gained over 3,000,000 hits.